The invention relates to a method and a device for joining at least two components.
DE 10 2006 002 237 B4 shows a method and a device for joining at least two components. A joining element is inserted in the two components and, in the meantime, a parameter quantifying the joining process is determined. In concrete terms, the reaction force acting on the components during the joining process is detected by means of a force sensor and is used to assess the joining process and/or to assess the joining connection.
DE 10 2010 006 402 A1 shows a method for monitoring a high-speed joining process, in which at least two components are joined by means of a nail. The sound emissions arising during the joining process are detected and evaluated by means of a sensor.
Similarly, DE 10 2010 006 403 A1 shows a method for monitoring a high-speed joining process, in which at least two components are connected to each other by means of a nail. The setting force exerted when driving in the nail is determined here by means of a force sensor.
The object of the present invention is to develop a method and a device of the kind mentioned at the start in such a way that a simplified and improved monitoring and assessment of a joining process and the joining connection produced thereby is made possible.
In order to make possible an improved and simplified monitoring and assessment of a joining process and the joining connection produced thereby, it is provided in the method according to the invention that the joining element is inserted by means of a robot and the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process is determined by means of the robot. The determination of at least one or even several parameters quantifying the joining process thus does not take place by means of additional sensor technology, such as acoustic sensors or force sensors, for example, in contrast to the method known from the prior art.
Instead, it is provided according to the invention that the joining element is inserted by means of a robot into the two components to be connected, and in the meantime, a parameter quantifying the joining process is determined. As a result, it is possible to monitor the joining process itself and to assess the joining connection produced which was produced from the two components and the joining element, in a simple and reliable manner, since at least one parameter quantifying the joining process can be directly determined and also assessed by means of the robot. Additional sensors for determining one or more parameters quantifying the joining process, which are laborious, often prone to error and expensive, are thus no longer required. A process monitoring of the joining process is thus possible in a very simple, cost-effective and low-noise manner.
It is provided in an advantageous embodiment of the invention that the robot is regulated depending on the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process. The at least one parameter quantifying the joining process is thus not only determined by means of the robot; the robot is additionally regulated still depending on the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process. Here, the robot can determine and assess the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process during the whole joining process such that the robot can be correspondingly regulated and controlled, depending on the determined values for the at least one parameter, such that the best possible joining outcome can be achieved.
A further advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that a current consumption of the respective drive axes of the robot is measured and, based on this, the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process is determined. Respective current consumptions of the drive axes of the robot during the insertion of the joining element can be tapped from a robot control device or similar in a very simple manner and used for establishing or for determining the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process. Thus, the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process can be determined in a particularly simple and reliable manner.
It is provided according to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention that the force for driving in the joining element, the energy for driving in the joining element, the acceleration of the joining element and/or the path of the joining element is determined by means of the robot during the insertion of the joining element into the two components. Here, all parameters relevant to the joining process can be substantially determined, such that the joining process itself can be continuously monitored when inserting the joining element into the two components, and also the joining connection produced, which comprises the two components and the inserted joining element, can be assessed by means of the determined parameters quantifying the joining process. The joining process itself can thus be carried out in a more reliable manner for the process and also in a way that can be repeated exactly, such that in particular the quality of the joining connection can be improved.
The device according to the invention for joining at least two components is designed to insert a joining element into the two components and to determine at least one parameter quantifying the joining process during the joining process. The device according to the invention is here characterized in that the device has a robot which is designed to insert the joining element and to determine the at least one parameter quantifying the joining process. Advantageous embodiments of the method according to the invention can be seen as advantageous embodiments of the device according to the invention, wherein the device, in particular, has means for carrying out the method steps.
Further advantages, features and details of the invention arise from the description of a preferred exemplary embodiment below, as well as with the aid of the Figures. The features and combinations of features specified in the description above and the features and combinations of features specified in the description of the Figures and/or in the Figures only below can be used not only in the combination specified in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own without exceeding the scope of the invention.